


a night not unlike any other

by mido



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Other, School Dances, astral wears clothes, yuma and astral are grossly in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:28:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22457233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mido/pseuds/mido
Summary: It was the kind of night that seems utterly unique, yet utterly commonplace.On a night like that, we clasped our hands together, and danced.
Relationships: Astral/Tsukumo Yuuma
Comments: 7
Kudos: 37





	a night not unlike any other

**Author's Note:**

> "quick" req for joey kattobingudaze on twitter! thanks for the request!
> 
> i say quick, and i wrote this fairly fast, but 1700 words isn't exactly a drabble, is it.... oh well ^^;;

The only thing that really gives Astral pause about this whole “school dance” ordeal is the fact that rather than donning their usual attire of a whole lot of nothing (which nobody had really objected to before, considering they lacked genitalia to be embarrassed of if they were the type of person to get embarrassed in the first place), the Numbers’ club had still insisted upon dressing them for the Big Night. Yuma had been the only one to actually oppose, steadfast in believing that the seven of them shouldn’t make Astral do things they didn’t want to, but when Astral had pursed his lips and tentatively agreed, he was shot down easily. It was funny, in all honesty-- they’d thought Yuma would be the first one to be on board, but it was still a touch heartwarming to see him stubbornly protesting on behalf of the alien, who hadn’t really said a word about the topic until it came down to a yes or a no. It made them happy, they think, to see him puff up his cheeks and cross his arms and fight a valiant fight for what Astral wanted to do, nonetheless.

So this is how they find themself floating aimlessly around Kotori’s room, which is surprisingly not as girly as they would’ve expected from how she tends to present herself, something Astral finds themself appreciating the slightest bit. Kotori and Cathy and, amazingly enough, Todoroki sit side by side on the bed, examining the options they’ve laid out on the carpeted floor that their feet barely reach. Sometimes Astral finds themself forgetting that after everything, they’re all still in their early teens. They find it a little morbid how out of all the people on Earth, this group of children were the ones to be thrown into the middle of intergalactic war, back when that had been a thing. Life is simpler now, although it depended on who you asked for someone to tell you that. Puberty is a tricky thing.

“The blouse is definitely a go, but does Astral even like skirts?” Cathy wonders aloud, surveying the garments laid neatly side by side on the floor. Kotori makes a thoughtful expression and racks her brain for a moment, as if trying to recall some time she might’ve asked Astral that exact question-- Astral, though not really listening, knows she hasn’t. Todoroki raises his hand to his chin, looking up to where Astral is lounging in midair near the ceiling. “Hey, Astral, do you prefer pants or skirts?” He asks, and the alien in question floats down to their level for a moment. They look at the clothing littering the floor hard, and it soon becomes obvious they aren’t sure which are pants and which are skirts, but the trio lets them decide on their own anyway. Their fingertips graze something that feels soft to the touch, but not fuzzy or fleecelike; they pick it up and look it over, front and back. Kotori claps her hands together. “Good choice! I love that one!” She exclaims, her face giddy with excitement.

The garment in question is a skirt, yes, but rather than a short, single-color one with a harsh pleat of some sort (as most of Kotori’s are), this one looks like it’d come down to right below Astral’s knees and flare out at the bottom. On the outside it  _ does  _ look rather plain, but towards the hem there are small stars cut out of the fabric, each surrounded by a bit of embroidery with scrollwork as a sort of outline. The inside is covered by a sort of inkwash type design, with black and white and greys all cascading together like waves, but it’s only barely visible unless one were to spin around. There are belt loops around the waistline which Astral thinks might actually come in handy (they tend to be a bit skinnier and lankier than most humans), and the outer fabric is a dark navy blue, with the loosest pleat in the world to it just so it doesn’t just look like someone cut a circle out of a heap of cloth. 

After passing their impromptu inspection, Astral lays it delicately across the back of Kotori’s lime green desk chair, where the other three had decided to set aside pieces of Astral’s outfit to be that were Definite Yesses. When he turns back around, Cathy is all but jumping for joy, and Todoroki looks a bit sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck. Kotori smiles at him languidly, and laces her fingers together in her lap. For a second Astral thinks she might cry, but the expression disappears within a split second, replaced by the same joy Cathy’s parading around.

“Alright!” Todoroki stands abruptly and claps his hands together. “Outfit coordination complete!” Cathy giggles at his overzealousness, while Kotori joins in, throwing her fist up in the air. “Yeah!” Astral watches them like a child watching a zoo exhibit, but a warm feeling twists and swivels around in his chest like a kitten in a patch of sun on a lazy afternoon.

Two days pass before Astral’s clothed debut, and Cathy, Kotori and Todoroki swear to each other to keep their mouths shut so as to not spoil the surprise, especially for Yuma. Astral feels a little giddy themself too, if they’re honest, to see Yuma’s reaction. It probably wouldn’t be that big a deal to him, but somehow they feel like this is some sort of rite of passage for someone who tends towards nudity 24/7. Somehow they feel a candle’s worth of excitement burning brighter and brighter inside them, minute by minute, hour by hour. By the time the school dance rolls around Astral’s sure they could light the whole building on fire with all that’s swirling around in his chest and throat, making their hands shake just a tad. They try and press it down and wait patiently for the aforementioned trio on Kotori’s doorstep, where they’d arranged to meet to get them ready. The door swings open, and they’re all but pulled inside.

“Okay, so I don’t think anything we do to your hair will stick, so I think we should just leave it.” Kotori says as she’s buttoning the blouse she’d lent them in the back. It was white with a high collar, ruffled at the end, with a sheer area around their collarbones and long sleeves that had similar ruffles where their hands came out. Cathy nods sagely in tandem with Todoroki, the latter of whom who’s ironing the skirt Astral had picked days earlier just to rid it of every last wrinkle. Cathy had brought some of the knee socks she wore nearly daily, too, but rather than her usual striped ones she had picked out a pair of white, just barely tinted blue ones, to tie the outfit together and so that Astral wouldn’t be wearing a pair of Kotori’s mary janes without socks. Those shoes in particular were nothing fancy, and Kotori had confessed she’d only worn them a handful of times, but Astral found them somewhat classy in their plainness. Something or other about minimalist chic.

The school isn’t that far from where Kotori lives, so they all walk together with their carefully picked shoes tap-tapping on the sidewalk while Astral’s feet still hover in the air. “You’re going to have to stand on the ground when you dance, you know.” Cathy jokes, lightly jabbing her elbow into Astral’s side. They ponder this-- actually, she’s probably right, considering that since they were already taller than Yuma when standing normally, he’d be reaching a little high into the air if they were to waltz or something with Astral still floating. Just to get themself acclimated beforehand, they drift down to the pavement and set their feet on it tenderly, as if they were walking like a human for the first time in their life. Todoroki instructs them to keep their shoulders back so their posture doesn’t worsen, and Astral listens. They’re glad the girls didn’t pick out heels for them, considering Kotori’s struggling just a little and having to lean on Cathy at points.

The four arrive punctually and meet beneath the grove of cherry blossom trees not yet in bloom as the Numbers’ Club had decided on at the beginning of the week, just so that they could all walk in together rather than trickling in one by one and looking a bit lost without their comrades. Tetsuo waves when he notices them, shouting, “Yo!”, prompting Tokunosuke and Yuma both to look up.

There were a lot of concepts and ideas and just  _ things _ Astral didn’t understand when they first came to Earth, what feels like forever ago. Love, as was the topic of choice in so many of the anime they watched late at night while Yuma snoozed away peacefully in his hammock, was one of those things. They’d always thought of it as an enigma of sorts-- what did it feel like, they wondered? To have someone so precious you’d give up your own life just to keep theirs intact? To care so deeply for another that you’d do whatever you could, and even whatever you  _ couldn’t  _ do just to see them smile? It was just strange, Astral had thought. Another strange human phenomena, one they’d likely never comprehend, as they had resigned themself to for so many things.

When Yuma’s bright eyes, catching the lights hung around the courtyard from the branches of the cherry blossom trees and reflecting them tenfold, meet their own, Astral thinks that this may be what love is. In that moment there is only the two of them, gazes clashing despite the yards between them, and Astral, with their feet on the ground all that’s keeping them together, takes a step forward. Yuma does the same, and within seconds, Astral’s hands are gripped in Yuma’s own, squeezing so tightly that Astral feels they might burst.  _ I think this is love, _ they think to themself in the bubble encasing the two of them.  _ Is this love? _

Yuma opens his mouth to speak, his cheeks dusted a shade not unlike his irises, but before any words leave his lips, Astral already knows what he’s going to say.  _ Me too,  _ they think, and their lips part involuntarily, giving a voice to what already hangs in the air between them. 

_ I love you, too. _


End file.
